Guest MonkeySee Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 What, if any, benefits are there to obtaining a retirement visa? Obviously, not making the many border runs is a big plus. For now, I do not mind making a trip every three months. I am just trying to think if there is any other advantage or disadvantage. Seems I heard that the hospitals give you a little better price on their services, if you have a retirement visa. Any truth to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaybutton Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 What, if any, benefits are there to obtaining a retirement visa? Obviously, not making the many border runs is a big plus. For now, I do not mind making a trip every three months. I am just trying to think if there is any other advantage or disadvantage. Seems I heard that the hospitals give you a little better price on their services, if you have a retirement visa. Any truth to that? I know of no better rates from hospitals or anywhere else, but there are advantages. You're right about the main advantage of the one-year visa . . . it saves the hassle and of having to make the 90-day visa run. With the one-year visa the only requirement is to report your address every 90 days. The 90-day visa is a tourist visa. The retirement visa is a non-immigrant visa. You can get a Thai driver's license and motorcycle license with the retirement visa, but not with the 90-day visa. Also, from what I understand, some banks will not let you open an account and/or will not let you get online banking with the 90-day visa. Other than that, I can't think of any other particular advantages, although I have heard that Thailand is frowning on allowing people to live in Thailand permanently by constantly making visa runs. I have heard they are going to set some sort of limitation on the number of visa runs permitted over certain periods of time. I don't know if there is actually any truth to that, but every so often I hear rumblings about it. I have also heard that various consulates and Thai embassies outside of Thailand are tightening up the rules about making it so easy to get the 90-day visa. It seems to me that someone who wishes to be a resident of Thailand is a lot better off with the one-year visa rather than the 90-day visa. However, for whatever reasons, there are plenty of people who prefer to stick to the visa run method, rather than the one-year visa method, despite the fact that they are eligible for the one-year visa. If you are under age 50, then at the moment you don't have much choice. It is my understanding that to be eligible for the one-year visa, you must be at least 50 years old and also have a proveable income from sources outside of Thailand. Neither of those is a requirement for the 90-day visa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
